Chinese New Year
When people talk about the “holiday season” in the U.S., they typically refer to that period between Thanksgiving dinner and New Year’s Day. In Asia, the most big holiday seanson is The Lunar New Year, most commonly associated with the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, typically falls sometime between January 21 and February 20 annually. Lunar New Year 2021 is on February 12, and in terms of the Chinese zodiac animal, it’s the Year of the Ox.
In Taiwan, Chinese New Year is definitely the most important of all of Taiwan’s traditional holidays, and it is also the longest. The origin of the Chinese New Year is itself ancient and obscured by the amount of time. It is popularly recognised as the Spring Festival and celebrations last 15 days. Schools usually get two weeks’ vacation, whereas businesspeople and white collar workers will get a week or less. Technically, though, the public holidays last about a week and stores and places of business usually reopen on the fifth day of the first lunar month.
人們談論美國的“假日季節”時，通常是指感恩節晚餐和元旦之間的這段時間。在亞洲，最大的節日季節是農曆新年，通常與農曆新年或春節有關，通常每年每年1月21日至2月20日之間。 2021年農曆新年是2月12日，就十二生肖而言，它是牛年。
在台灣，農曆新年無疑是台灣所有傳統節日中最重要的節日，也是最長的節日。農曆新年的起源本身就是古老的，並且被時間所掩蓋。眾所周知，春節和慶祝活動持續15天。學校通常有兩個星期的假期，而商人和白領工人則有一個星期或更短的假期。不過從技術上講，公眾假期大約持續一周，商店和營業地點通常會在農曆正月初五開始營業。
Lunar New Year
Why it’s called the Lunar New Year?
It’s called the Lunar New Year because it marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendars traditional to many east Asian countries including China, South Korea, and Vietnam, which are regulated by the cycles of the moon and sun.
A solar year—the time it takes Earth to orbit the sun—lasts around 365 days, while a lunar year, or 12 full cycles of the Moon, is roughly 354 days.” As with the Jewish lunisolar calendar, “a month is still defined by the moon, but an extra month is added periodically to stay close to the solar year.” This is why the new year falls on a different day within that month-long window each year.
之所以稱為農曆新年，是因為它是許多東亞國家（包括中國，韓國和越南）傳統的陰陽曆的第一個新月，受月亮和太陽的周期調節。太陽年是地球繞太陽運行的時間，大約持續365天，而陰曆年或12個完整月球週期大約是354天。”與猶太陰陽曆一樣，“一個月仍然 是由月球定義的，但會定期增加一個額外的月，以使其保持在太陽年度附近。”這就是為什麼新年在每年那個月長的窗口中的不同日期。
Traditions
For the most part, Chinese New Year is synonymous with three things: the color red, fireworks and stuffed bellies. In the lead up to the festival, you will be encompassed in a maze of red stuff – decorations, gifts, wall hangings, lanterns and of course red envelopes.
There are involves two main themes of before Chinese New Year, First, clearing away all of the previous year’s bad luck. And, second, preparing the how to receive the next year’s good luck, which now let us talk about what you should know of Chinese New Year’s traditional.
在大多數情況下，農曆新年是三件事的代名詞：紅色，煙火和飽腹的肚子。在節日開始之前，你會被迷宮般的紅色事物所包圍-裝飾，禮物，牆飾，燈籠和紅色信封。
春節前有兩個主要主題，第一，消除上一年的所有厄運。其次，準備迎接明年的好運，讓我們現在談談你應該了解的農曆新年傳統。
Before New Year.
New Year Shopping.
Back in ancient Taiwan, major holidays like Chinese New Year were typically the only times all year when a family would enjoy a feeling of abundance. This provides the context for why, even today, a typical Chinese New Year shopping list overflows with foods such as meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, rice and flour, alcohol, and symbolic items like incense and candles, calendars, firecrackers and new clothes.
To celebrate the New Year and facilitate the general public to purchase New Year items, the Taipei City government has organized few Taipei New Year Shopping Fairs, also called the Taipei Chinese New Year Street Bazaar. Except the most famous Dihua Street, the Binjiang Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market is also a great place to buy and preparate culminates for New Year.
回到古代台灣，像農曆新年這樣的重大假期通常是一年中唯一一次讓家人感到充實的日子。這提供了一個背景，說明為什麼即使在今天，典型的農曆新年購物清單中仍然充斥著諸如肉類和家禽，水果和蔬菜，大米和麵粉，酒精以及諸如熏香和蠟燭，日曆，鞭炮和新衣服等象徵性物品的食物。
為了慶祝新年並促進公眾購買新年物品，台北市政府很少舉辦台北新年購物交易會，也稱為台北農曆新年街市集。除了最著名的迪化街，濱江果蔬批發市場也是購買和準備新年的好地方。
Spring cleaning
Ahead of every Lunar New Year, Taiwanese households will have a spring clean. Windows will be wiped down, surfaces dusted, and old junk cleared away. The idea is that by getting rid of junk and clutter now, you are making room for good luck in the coming year. By sweeping away the dust, you are clearing away any bad luck that might have accumulated over the previous year.
在每個農曆新年臨近之前，台灣家庭將進行春季大掃除。 窗戶將被擦拭乾淨，表面積滿灰塵，舊垃圾也將被清除。 這個想法是，通過現在擺脫垃圾和混亂，你可以為新的一年運騰出空間。 通過掃除灰塵，你可以清除上一年可能累積的任何厄運。
All of this planning and preparation culminates on New Year’s Eve. With a clean home, a clear mind and a delicious meal on the table, you can welcome the New Year with a crescendo of firecrackers at midnight and days filled with visits from family and friends to follow.
Notice:
Since a fair chunk of Taipei people come from somewhere else, the roads heading south to be more crowded than the roads heading north. In general, many stores and restaurants will close early today, or not open at all.
所有這些計劃和準備工作都將在除夕結束。有了一個乾淨的家，一個清晰的頭腦和一桌可口的飯菜，你可以在午夜和一天中不斷加鞭炮的情況下迎接新年，這裡充滿了家人和朋友的光臨。
注意：
由於相當一部分台北人來自其他地方，因此，向南的道路比向北的道路更加擁擠。總的來說，許多商店和餐館將在今天早些時候關閉，或者根本不營業。
New Year's Eve
At Lunar New Year, you have to put up new posters of ”door gods” on front doors and then the family union dinner,If you have family arriving for a traditional reunion dinner later in the day, most of New Year’s Eve will be dedicated to cooking in the kitchen. The menu should be filled with lots of auspicious foods intended to shower wealth, luck and success on the family. The Chinese New Year celebration generally starts with this delicious multi-generational family meal in the evening, which should be at least 10-course meal; however, it is traditional for families to gather and celebrate. Most people will return to their parents’ or grandparents’ home for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, while many will then have to go and visit their in-laws (the spouse’s family) on the second day of the New Year holiday.
After dinner, the family sits up for the night in many different ways. Sometime the parents play mahjong and drink tea, while the kids dressed in new pajamas watch television and play games.
At midnight, the sky is lit up by fireworks for welcome the new year, which you won’t sleep through, as the moment will be marked by a cacophony of fireworks.
Fireworks are a huge part of Chinese New Year celebrations, with more rockets set off on that night than on any other night of the year. Over 500 cities in China have actually now either restricted or outright banned fireworks due to safety concerns and air pollution, but they remain an immensely popular part of the New Year celebrations. The tradition comes from a folk tale about a monster named Nian who was scared away using firecrackers.
在農曆新年期間，你必須在前門張貼新的“春聯”。如果你的家人在當天晚些時候抵達參加傳統的團圓飯，則除夕夜大部分時間致力於在廚房做飯。菜單中應裝滿許多吉祥食品，以豐富家庭的財富，運氣和成功。農曆新年慶祝活動通常從晚上的這一代多代美味佳餚開始，至少應包括10道菜。但是，家庭聚會和慶祝是傳統的做法。大多數人會在除夕和元旦返回父母或祖父母的家中，而許多人則不得不在新年假期的第二天去看望親戚（配偶的家人）。
晚餐後，全家人以許多不同的方式坐下來過夜。有時父母會打麻將和喝茶，而孩子們則穿著新的睡衣看電視並玩遊戲。午夜，煙火照亮了天空，迎接新的一年，你將無法入睡，因為當下煙花將散發出刺耳的聲音。
煙火是農曆新年慶祝活動的重要組成部分，當年晚上的煙火比一年中其他任何夜晚都要多。實際上，出於安全考慮和空氣污染，中國有500多個城市實際上已經禁止或完全禁止使用煙花，但是在新年慶祝活動中，它們仍然是非常受歡迎的一部分。這個傳統來自一個民間故事，傳說一個叫Nian的怪物被鞭炮嚇走了。
Red envelopes
The one tradition most people are aware of is the giving of red envelopes. Presents are not the done thing at all but envelopes in the lucky color of red containing fresh, new banknotes are.
Children will receive red envelopes from their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Meanwhile, older children are expected to give red envelopes to elderly relatives as a sign of respect and gratitude for the sacrifices they have made to bring them up.
The amount of money they contain is important too. Economic circumstances affect this of course but giving too little or too much can result in offense being taken while certain amounts are considered to bring more good fortune than others.
For example, any sum of money containing a number “4” is out because of the associations this number has with death.
大多數人都知道的一個傳統就是送紅包。 在東方紅色代表喜氣，紅色信封則叫做「紅包」，裡面裝有新鮮的新鈔票。孩子們將收到父母，祖父母，阿姨和叔叔的紅包。 同時，大一點的孩子被期望給年長的親人紅包，以表示對他們為撫養長大而做出的犧牲的尊重和感激。
它們所包含的金額也很重要。 當然，經濟情況會影響這一點，但是如果給予的量太少或太多，則可能會導致犯罪，儘管某些金額被認為會帶來更多的財富。
例如，任何包含數字“ 4”的貨幣都被淘汰，因為該數字與死亡有關聯。
Gongxi
Of course, common phrase you’ll hear a lot of over the season are variations of the word Gongxi, which is a happy sort of congratulations, conveying with two simple syllables wishes for happiness, prosperity and joy. During the days of Chinese New Year, you’ll hear the phrase from dawn until well after dusk through endless repetition of a song that’s basically the Chinese equivalent of every Christmas song wrapped up in one.
當然，這個春節的時候，你會經常聽到「恭喜」用兩個簡單的音節表達了對幸福，繁榮和快樂的祝福。 在農曆新年期間，您會聽到一句話，從黎明到黃昏，直到無盡重複一首歌，基本上相當於一首包裝在聖誕節裡的聖誕節歌。
Spring Festival Taboos
Don’t break things
Most people will try to avoid breaking things at the best of times, but this is especially important in Taiwan over Lunar New Year. A breakage over the holiday is said to portend losses, bad luck, or a family rift in the coming year. Something most families definitely want to avoid.
If something does accidentally get broken, you will hear the culprit quickly saying “suisui ping’an (歲歲平安)” which is supposed to negate the bad fortune you may have caused.
Avoid negative words, sharp objects
There is a belief in some Taiwanese households that using sharp objects such as knives and scissors is bad luck over the Lunar New Year holiday. It is thought that they can cut down on your good luck or good fortune.
Some people also try to avoid using any negative words over the course of this holiday too, as these are also seen as causing bad luck. As a result, you can often hear some hilarious verbal gymnastics as people try to say what they mean using euphemisms and work-arounds rather than utter a simple word that has negative connotations.
不要打破東西
大多數人會盡量避免在新年期間摔到東西，尤為是在台灣。據說假期的破裂預示著來年的損失，厄運或家庭裂痕。大多數家庭肯定想避免的事情。
如果某件事確實被意外破壞，你將很快聽到罪魁禍首說“歲歲平安”，這應該抵消你可能造成的不幸。
避免負面詞，尖銳物體
在某些台灣家庭中，有一種信念認為，在農曆新年假期裡，使用利器如刀和剪刀是倒霉的。大家認為它們會減少你的好運
有些人還試圖在這個假期中避免使用任何負面詞，因為這些詞也被認為會造成厄運。你經常會聽到一些熱鬧的口頭體操，因為人們嘗試使用委婉語和變通辦法來說出他們的意思，而不是說出帶有負面含義的簡單單詞。
[…] Happy Lunar New Year […]